I'm kind of new here and a bit impressed by all the terrific art just lying around everywhere in this forum. I'd like to present some work-in-progress picture of mine so you can give some feedback. But what i'd really want is a piece of advice to help me finish it. I've always had problem with finishing touches, you know... how to make skin really look like skin and little tweaks like that! What i want is making it more realistic without betraying the cartoonish style, if ya know what I mean... Thx for any help.

Is that a Goatee? cos it needs texture eg like the hair, it needs finer detail than the hair though.

Planning on keeping it monochrome?

Try adding a texture over the top of the skin. Use PhotoShop and add a tiny kind of sanstone texture, because skin is kind of made up of thousands of tiny bumps. Extra tip: Keep in mind that this is more prominent in male characters.

You need to distinguish the hairline. It looks to blended and merged with the forehead. Try adding some dark and light strokes bewteen the two with a small brush.